No UNESCO Demarche

UNCLAS MINSK 001274 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD PREL SCUL UNESCO BO SUBJECT: No UNESCO Demarche Ref: State 189518 ¶1. Post believes that delivering the reftel letter and talking points would be counterproductive and provides the GOB more ammunition for its anti-U.S. propaganda campaign. Post does not expect the GOB to support the U.S. position. ¶2. On October 13, Belarusian state television featured a short program claiming the U.S. would withdraw from UNESCO if the UNESCO Cultural Diversity Convention is adopted. The program argued that the U.S. seeks to build a unipolar world, and so opposes any cultural diversity as a possible threat to U.S. dominance. The announcer stated the U.S. has always disregarded other cultures, and cited purposeful U.S. destruction of ancient artifacts in Iraq as evidence. PHLIPOT